The Office for Student Financial Affairs (SFA) recognizes that many families experience significant changes in income or family situations that are not reflected in the base-year income used to determine the student’s expected family contribution.

The Financial Aid Revision Petition is used to review your FAFSA information to determine if you may be eligible for need based Federal Financial Aid such as the Federal Pell Grant program or Federal Direct Subsidized Loans. It does not offer scholarships nor a change in your cost of attendance.

Students who can document extenuating financial or personal circumstances can submit a Revision Petition to appeal their financial aid decision. Extenuating circumstances may include, but are not limited to, situations such as:

Divorce of parents or student

Death of a major wage earner

Involuntary loss of income by a major wage earner

Loss of other income or benefits (such as Social Security benefits or child support) by the student, parents, or student spouse

If you have extenuating circumstances that you believe warrant a reevaluation of your financial aid, you should contact your financial aid advising team to discuss your unique situation. You/your parents will be asked to complete a Revision Petition and to provide a complete written explanation detailing your/your parents’ extenuating circumstances. You will also need to provide documentation that you feel supports your appeal. Once your Revision Petition has been received, a professional judgment committee will review it, and you will be notified of the results in writing.

The normal time period for filing revision petitions is March 1 through June 1 of each processing year. You should be aware that the appeal process will deactivate your financial aid file for up to a month. During this time neither need-based aid nor non-need-based financial aid may be processed or disbursed.

All actions resulting from the petition process are contingent upon availability of funds, as well as any processing deadlines that are in effect at the time of the petition approval.

If you have special circumstances that you believe warrant a reevaluation of your Cost of Attendance, you should discuss your situation with a member of your financial aid advising team to determine if you may be eligible to file a Petition for Increased Cost of Attendance.

The most common circumstances that result in a student’s being eligible for a Cost of Attendance recalculation are:

Tuition fees in excess of the amount allotted in the standard cost of attendance

Books and supplies in excess of the standard cost of attendance

Required field trips

Transportation costs for commuting students

Documentation to substantiate your budget revision request is required and must be submitted with the Petition for Increased Cost of Attendance.

A member of your financial aid advising team will review your Petition for Increased Cost of Attendance. You may check with your financial aid adviser about one week after submitting your petition to find out if your request was approved or denied. The actual revision of your financial aid could take two to three weeks, depending on the volume of petitions at the time.

All actions resulting from the petition process are contingent upon availability of funds, as well as any processing deadlines that are in effect at the time of petition approval.

Federal and state regulations require students to maintain satisfactory academic progress to receive financial aid. Requirements include minimum grade point average standards, maximum hour limits, and completion percentages.

If you are not maintaining satisfactory academic progress as defined in the policy, you will receive an email from SFA notifying you that your financial aid is terminated.

Students have the right to appeal their status. If you receive a satisfactory academic progress termination notice from SFA and believe you have extenuating circumstances that have contributed to your inability to meet academic requirements, you may complete the Satisfactory Academic Progress Petition and return it to S-107 Criser Hall as soon as possible. You will need to list and document the unusual circumstances you believe warrant a review of your case. Only courses required for your degree will be considered when determining eligibility for all financial aid.

Your petition will be evaluated, usually within ten working days, and you will be notified via email of the results. If your notification indicates you have been approved then your aid will be reinstated for that term. For future terms, you will need to provide to the financial aid office an Academic Plan of Work each term until you have either graduated or are meeting academic standards again.

If you have questions about your status, come to the financial aid office in S-107 Criser, or email us at sfa-help@mail.ufl.edu.

If you had an illness, emergency, or special circumstances that you believe warrant a review of your eligibility for a state program, you should discuss the situation with your financial aid advising team to determine if you are eligible to file an appeal. Appeal forms are available in July of each year. If you decide to appeal, you must also include a copy of the “Notice of Ineligibility” you received from the state of Florida and you must submit your appeal within 30 days of the issue date of the Notice.

When filing an appeal, explain the illness or emergency that you believe warrants review for continued receipt of State of Florida program(s). Your appeal must include a complete description and documentation of the circumstances. Attach statements from physicians, parents, college officials, etc., to support your appeal. Signatures are required on these. Submit your appeal to the Office for Student Financial Affairs State Programs section in S-107 Criser Hall. The review process includes notification to the student and the State of Florida of the decision rendered. The entire process will take two to three weeks, depending upon the volume of appeals at the time.

All actions resulting from this appeal process are contingent upon availability of funds, as well as any processing deadlines in effect at the time the appeal is submitted and approved.

If you have extenuating circumstances you believe warrant a reevaluation of your eligibility to work with a GPA below 2.0; you may complete and submit a Student Employment Petition. Please be specific concerning your request describing circumstances beyond your control that have contributed to this situation and how you have resolved, or are resolving, this situation. (Documentation may be attached.)

**OR**

If you desire to work for more than 20 hours per week, you may request up to 32 hours per week. Explain where you will work and why you need the additional hours using this petition.

For either of the above, you must attach a letter on department letter head from your academic adviser with his/her approval before we can consider this petition. Submit the Student Employment Petition plus documentation to the Student Employment Section of Student Financial Affairs at S-107 Criser Hall. Students may check with the office within two days for a decision.